Biography

Dr Rupert Stuart-Smith is the Deputy Director and a Senior Research Fellow in Climate Science and the Law at the Oxford Sustainable Law Programme.

In his research, Rupert advances methods in attribution science to shed new light on the impacts of climate change on health, glaciers, and extreme weather events. In 2025, he co-led the development of guidance for research attributing health impacts to climate change. He also studies the implications of developments in climate science for state and corporate actors’ legal duties. Rupert publishes on the implications of burgeoning climate litigation on climate-related financial risk.

Rupert's recent publications include research on legal scrutiny of states’ dependence on CO2 removal to meet climate targets, the impact of climate change on glacial retreat in Peru in the context of a high-profile lawsuit (Lliuya v RWE) and the evidence needed to substantiate causation arguments in climate-related legal actions. His research has been published in leading scientific journals including Science, Nature Geoscience and Nature Climate Change.

Rupert regularly provides scientific advice and training for lawyers and judges. He has worked as an expert advisor to the Interamerican Court of Human Rights, and a consultant for the Foundation for International Law for the Environment, Climate Analytics and Vivid Economics. Rupert holds a DPhil and BA(Hons) in Geography from the University of Oxford. Rupert has also received the Alfred Steers Prize from the Royal Geographical Society.
 

Recent Publications

Sept 2025
Journal
Health losses attributed to anthropogenic climate change
in Nature Climate Change
Colin J. Carlson ,  Dann Mitchell ,  Rory Gibb ,  Rupert Stuart-Smith ,  Tamma Carleton ,  Torre E. Lavelle ,  Catherine A. Lippi ,  Megan Lukas-Sithole ,  Michelle A. North ,  Sadie J. Ryan ,  Dorcas Stella Shumba ,  Matthew Chersich ,  Mark New ,  Christopher H. Trisos
Apr 2024
Journal
Turning a groundswell of climate action into ground rules for net zero
in Nature Climate Change
Thomas Hale ,  Thom Wetzer ,  Selam Kidane Abebe ,  Myles Allen ,  Amir Amel-Zadeh ,  John Armour ,  Kaya Axelsson ,  Ben Caldecott ,  Lucilla Dias ,  Sam Fankhauser ,  Benjamin Franta ,  Cameron Hepburn ,  Kennedy Mbeva ,  Lavanya Rajamani ,  Steve Smith ,  Rupert Stuart-Smith
Oct 2021
Journal
Loss and damage from climate change: A new climate justice agenda
in One Earth
Emily Boyd ,  Brian C. Chaffin ,  Kelly Dorkenoo ,  Guy Jackson ,  Luke Harrington ,  Alicia N'Guetta ,  Emma L. Johansson ,  Linnéa Nordlande ,  Salvatore Paolo De Rosa ,  Emmanuel Raju ,  Murray Scown ,  Joyce Soo ,  Rupert Stuart-Smith
Jun 2021
Report
Attribution science and litigation: facilitating effective legal arguments and strategies to manage climate change damages
Rupert Stuart-Smith ,  Aisha I. Saad ,  Friederike E. L. Otto ,  Gaia Lisi ,  Kristian Cedervall Lauta ,  Petra Minnerop ,  Thom Wetzer
Jun 2021
Journal
Filling the evidentiary gap in climate litigation
in Nature Climate Change
Rupert Stuart-Smith ,  Friederike E. L. Otto ,  Aisha I. Saad ,  Gaia Lisi ,  Petra Minnerop ,  Kristian Cedervall Lauta ,  Kristin van Zwieten ,  Thom Wetzer
Mar 2021
Report
Italy’s Climate Targets and Policies in Relation to the Paris Agreement and Global Equity Considerations
Gaurav Ganti ,  Andreas Geiges ,  Matthew Gidden ,  Inga Menke ,  Carl-Friedrich Schleussner ,  Rupert Stuart-Smith ,  Ryan Wilson
Feb 2021
Journal
Increased outburst flood hazard from Lake Palcacocha due to human-induced glacier retreat
in Nature Geoscience
Rupert Stuart-Smith ,  G.H. Roe ,  S. Li ,  Myles R. Allen
Dec 2020
Journal
Using Detection And Attribution To Quantify How Climate Change Is Affecting Health
in Health Affairs
Kristie L. Ebi ,  Christofer Åström ,  Christopher J. Boyer ,  Luke J. Harrington ,  Jeremy J. Hess ,  Yasushi Honda ,  Eileen Kazura ,  Rupert Stuart-Smith ,  Friederike E. L. Otto
Dec 2019
Report
A survey of the net zero positions of the world’s largest energy companies
Simon Dietz ,  Valentin Jahn ,  Jolien Noels ,  Rupert Stuart-Smith ,  Cameron Hepburn
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